You can help prevent seniors from being scammed

Statewide scheme targeted seniors trying to stay in their homes.

May 23, 2012|Paul Muschick | The Watchdog

It's time to find a way to stop the elderly from being ripped off.

An elaborate scam exposed this week, which allegedly took more than $700,000 from the elderly across the state, hit the Lehigh Valley particularly hard. And like most scams, vigilant consumers could have spotted it.

The scheme capitalized on the desire of seniors to stay in their homes — and out of nursing homes — as they grow older. Four men are accused of setting up companies to sell in-home care or related services, and then not providing the services or flat-out stealing from their victims.

Authorities said they've identified 218 victims statewide. Lehigh County had the most of any county, with 24. There also were victims in Northampton, Bucks, Berks and Montgomery counties.

The grand jury report says one of the victims was a 97-year-old Allentown woman with dementia who paid the suspects more than $11,000.

Churches, senior centers, civic groups and families who are in contact with the elderly regularly must get involved to help stop seniors from being swindled. Please implore seniors to proceed cautiously when they're approached with business offers. Make yourselves available to talk them through any offers they receive.

Developing a continuing dialogue will give older adults an opportunity to explain what's going on in their lives, said Donna Zimmerman, executive director of Lehigh County's Office of Aging and Adult Services. The more frequent the conversation, the less awkward it will be to discuss sensitive and potentially embarrassing situations.

"It's hard to talk to older people about a lot of things. One, they don't really want to admit they're aging," Zimmerman said. "I think older people are very proud."

The con exposed Tuesday by the state attorney general's office was complex and grounded in reality, which is what makes it so scary.

With more seniors living independently in their homes longer, there's an increasing demand for in-home services not only for medical needs, but also for help bathing, dressing, cleaning, cooking, shopping and so on.

Attorney General Linda Kelly said the men behind the scam took advantage of those needs. Authorities dubbed their investigation Operation False Comfort, because that's what they said it gave victims, whose average age was 83.

My blog, at http://blogs.mcall.com/watchdog/, has more details about the case, including the names of the suspects and their companies.

What I want to stress today is that scams like this can be spotted, even though this one was more complex than others I've seen.

One reason people may have been victimized is because there are legitimate companies that offer the types of services these alleged scammers were selling. The hard part is knowing whom you can trust.

So how do you know?

For starters, the state Department of Health licenses agencies providing home care services, both medical and nonmedical. Before hiring a provider, verify it is licensed (www.health.state.pa.us, 717-783-1379).

Authorities alleged the scheme also helped people arrange and manage long-term care insurance, which is different from prepaid home-care services. Those services may require a license from the state Department of Insurance (www.ins.state.pa.us, 877-881-6388).

Jack Yanosky, the department's director of licensing and enforcement, testified before the grand jury that licenses would have been required for some of the alleged activities in Operation False Comfort.

Licenses would be required to take money from customers with the intention of paying premiums on their insurance policies, and to provide "health advocate" services such as assisting people in billing, obtaining services and coordinating care.

However, in this case, verifying licenses wouldn't have been enough because authorities said one of the suspects was a licensed insurance agent and another suspect had been a licensed agent until his license was revoked last year.

Plus, authorities said these crooks intentionally tried to stay beyond insurance regulators' reach and structure their contracts so they would not be considered insurance.

"It's a fine line," said Terry Keating, an Insurance Department attorney. "That's what they tried to exploit."

The grand jury report says the suspects led their victims to believe the nonmedical care they were buying would provide the same protection as long-term health care insurance.

Authorities said there were other clues the sales pitches in Operation False Comfort were phony, including the low cost of the care.

They said one of the companies sold 1,000 hours of service for $1,590. That's $1.59 an hour, which isn't feasible.

The grand jury report describes how victims were visited repeatedly by the suspects and pressured into making immediate decisions and paying large sums in advance, which all are telltale signs of a scam.